Nuclear waste protest held

BY ADAM GROFF

SEABROOK - Seacoast anti-nuclear groups gathered at the Dover train station Saturday to protest possible future shipments of nuclear waste from Seabrook Station and Maine Yankee on the Downeaster rail line.

A controversial plan is before Congress to build a nuclear waste storage facility in Yucca Mountain, Nev., that would draw spent nuclear fuel by truck and train from all over the country.

"There's not enough sound science behind it, and a lot of the tests haven't been conducted that need to be conducted," said Jennifer Hicks, director of the Seacoast Anti-Pollution League. "The casks that will transport the waste have not been tested, and the tracks they'll go on (in New Hampshire) are known for being rickety."

Hicks said about 30 people gathered at the Dover station at 9:15 on Saturday, including representatives from SAPL, Clean Water Action and the Seacoast chapter of the Sierra Club.

"There was a great question-and-answer session with people off the street participating," said Hicks. "It wasn't just the choir, there were definitely people who didn't know as much that were there too."

Dover Rep. Gary Gilmore made a few remarks, said Hicks, before the group boarded the 9:50 train for Durham and then Exeter, where further talks were held. She said state Sen. Burt Cohen and congressional candidate Martha Fuller Clark could not make the event because of the Democratic convention being held in Manchester.

If the Yucca Mountain plan is approved, it is expected to be about 10 years before it is ready. Hicks said that by that time, the amount of spent fuel in the country will be greater than the 77,000-ton capacity the facility is expected to have. In addition, she said, because Seabrook is one of the younger nuclear plants, it would be one of the last in line to transport its waste.